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Program UpdatesProtecting the Voices of Civil Society at the World Bank and IMF Meetings
Protecting the Voices of Civil Society at the World Bank and IMF Meetings
In October 2015, a coalition of civil society organizations (CSOs) sent a letter to President Jim Yong Kim of the World Bank and Managing Director Christine Lagarde of the IMF highlighting the concerns for the CSO Forum.
As a result of this letter, the IMF and World Bank organized a consultation to seek input on how to strengthen the CSO Forum. Click here to submit your comments and recommendations to the IMF and World Bank The deadline to send feedback is February 12, 2016. After this date, you may be invited to join a conference call/video link to continue the conversation.
The letter identifies recent concerns regarding the World Bank- and IMF-hosted CSO Forum, including altering event proposals and the diminishing space for constructive engagement. The chaotic implementation of these recent changes have led to CSO event cancellations and reduced participation. Additionally, transparency is an issue as media access to the Forum is limited. Information on the Forum is not made prominent on the Bank and Fund’s official meeting websites, nor is it shared with delegations or other non-CSO participants. As a result of these changes, the Forum’s ability to facilitate dialogue between civil society, government officials, and IFIs has been compromised.
This is a problem because the Forum is a unique place where Bank and Fund staff, management, governors, member state officials, and media gather all at once, and the Forum can serve as a useful platform to highlight concerns and identify limitations in current accountability mechanisms. Both the Bank and the Fund have recognized the crucial role that CSOs have historically played in strengthening policy outcomes.
In order to maximize the potential of the CSO Forum, the letter outlines a number of recommendations that involve greater transparency, CSO autonomy, and inclusion.
The many signatories welcome the opportunity to working together to improving the CSO Forum both for the benefit of participants as well as those directly affected by the institutions.